It is well recognized that the need to provide home health services and communications options to an aging population is a mater of growing concern in the United States and elsewhere. Many technological based solutions have been proposed in order to aid in providing these services. Ironically however, the target groups that these solutions are directed to are often the most resistant to employing or even allowing into their homes these “hi-tech” proposals.
For example, the most common method of providing technology based distance care is generally referred to as home health monitoring. Typically, home health monitoring systems include a number of sensors and small computing devices, installed throughout a home that measure and report different activity levels of an individual. Most of these home health monitoring systems have been built on a wireless platform; requiring the resident to purchase and maintain an Internet broadband connection. The current broadband adoption rate of people over 70 years of age is less than 25% however, while the adoption rate of digital broadcast, cable or satellite television is nearly 100% within this same cohort; clearly indicating a technology disconnect with Internet-based devices and systems and preference for those technologies, such as a television set or monitor, with which they are more accustomed. For a more detailed discussion of this quandary, and some possible solutions, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/478,209 and entitled Television Enabled Therapeutic Communication Systems and Methods, filed Sep. 5, 2014; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In addition to requiring negatively perceived new technology, most home health monitoring systems are precisely what their name implies: merely monitoring systems which monitor the rough location and perhaps some key health characteristics of a subscriber (e.g. medallions with sensors which send a signal notifying a service that a user has fallen, bracelets which monitor pulse and/or blood pressure and periodically report readings to a database, etc.). They are effectively crude, one-way, communications devices sending a signal or data set from the monitoring device to the monitoring service (or database). In specific circumstances such monitoring systems may crudely be considered two-way communications systems, such as when a triggering event occurs and the third party monitoring company responds thereto.
With the exception of the system mentioned in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/478,209 referenced above however, none of the current monitoring systems or devices provide true multi-path communications which allow the monitoring provider as well third party care givers (friends, family, physicians, pharmacy, etc.) the capability to communicate with a patient/user of the system. The present application seeks to build upon systems such as are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/478,209, and provide additional systems and methods that will provide a user with the capacity to more fully communicate and interact with third-parties who may be users of the system or outside of the system. Aspects of the present invention will utilize a user's television and its associated remote control via the television's cable set-top box (STB) and a telecommunications provider's (Telecom) services provided thereto to allow the user to interact with third parties.
The desired two-way interactivity of the present system is made possible in part by taking advantage of the controlling software/hardware system that are contained within the electronic ecosystem of the Telecom and known as middleware. Such middleware has traditionally been used by the Telecoms for distributing and billing for digital content that has been sent to a pay television viewer.
The vast majority of known middleware communications are unidirectional—messages (billing reminders, etc.) and/or content sent to the television consumer; although it is recognized that message construction could contain an aspect that would require the television viewer to respond in a particular message through some type of manual activation of the television remote control. An example of this type of system is shown in PRIOR ART FIG. 1.
As shown in PRIOR ART FIG. 1 the system 101, includes a Telecom 110 that provides to a subscriber's/user's television 120 a service for messaging or delivering content represented by controller or middleware application 130. The application 130 is in communication with a database of STB-IDs 140 such that when content is to be sent to a user the application 130 communicates with the database 140 to properly associate the desired/requested content with the proper STB-ID 145. The desired content and STB-ID data stream 155 is directed to the STB 150 of the corresponding television 120. The internal software of the end user's STB verifies the correct STB-ID of the data stream 155. The end user may also manually acknowledge receipt of the data stream 155 by a “yes/no” or “accept/deny” function 165 via the television remote control 160. Once the data stream 155 is verified by the STB 150 and/or accepted by the appropriate input via the remote control 160 (which is/are acknowledged by the application 130), the data stream is converted into a displayable signal and displayed on the television 120.
The present application presents a new system of allowing secure access and utilization of a Telecom's closed messaging system as described above by including a translation function that sends personal public facing information data sets into the Telecom's subscriber database to identify a specific designated STB to which a third-party message (via text or other medium) is to be sent. When the specific set top box has been identified from the specified personal publically available information, the STB identification (STB-ID) is copied and appended to the third-party message so that message deliver is conducted through the existing middleware ecosystem.
Thus, a user who is a subscriber to such a system is provided, not only with the potential services of the Telecom such as internet access, paid television content, cellular communications network, etc. but also the ability to have third-parties outside the Telecom's closed ecosystem send and receive communications with the user; all via interaction with the user's television and its remote control, and without the need for extra negatively perceived “hi-tech” hardware or services. With such a system in place, a user may then be able to opt in to a variety of services such as the aforementioned home health monitoring, customized audio and video programming, reminder services (e.g. “Have you taken your medicine today?”), etc. all via the television medium. Such a system is secure (via the requisite STB-ID) and HIPAA compliant.
These and other embodiments that characterize the disclosure are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part hereof. However, for further understanding of the disclosure reference can be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof and the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated and described embodiments of the disclosure.